So far...

Pretty picture by Liora K Photography

So, here we are, one week into the new year. How are things going so far? Not too bad. I don't think I'm quite up to full-time yet, but I am definitely doing more dance stuff, and better dance stuff. I'm thinking actively about why I do the things I do, examining my motivations and seeing what benefit I get from doing things. I'm writing this stuff down, so that when I get into a "Why bother?" sort of funk, I can remind myself. Of course, I can't take full credit for these ideas, Jolie told me to write that stuff down, and I had a good conversation with Mahin about always knowing why you are doing what you're doing (whether it's going to class or accepting a gig). I am really fortunate to have more experienced dancers share their hard-earned wisdom with me!

I've also been examining the stuff that I own. Later this month I will be hauling a bunch of my old costumes up to Phoenix for Yasmina's Bellydance Swap Meet. I've been pretty mercenary in choosing things to sell. Originally it was just going to be stuff that didn't fit or didn't really suit my style of dance, but I'm also selling some things that I genuinely like but haven't worn in two or more years. And I'm going to be cutting apart some things that I don't wear and don't think are worth selling either. It will be nice to have more room in my dance closet, and more money to buy things at Tribal Fest. The two may seem mutually exclusive, but if I sell TEN things at the swap meet and use that money to buy TWO really nice things at TF, I still end up with more room. Especially if I buy jewelry instead of costumes!

Yesterday was my first chance to actually do some bellydance drills and it felt great. Of course, I had to deal with the fact that I wanted to practice everything and didn't have enough time. The fact that I wanted to do so many more things makes me confident that as I get my schedule ironed out, I will have no problem filling hours with dance practice.

I also went back to Ballet class yesterday. I've been going sporadically over the holidays, but I really enjoy it. The class is small enough that I get individual, hands-on corrections, and the other dancers are really friendly. I'm hoping to take ballet at least two times a week and I think once I'm attending regularly, I will see a lot of improvement.